Master of Software Arts

If I were a hiring manager of software developers, this degree would
definitely make a candidate more credible to me.

Unfortunately, I’m afraid I’m in the minority. With software
development shifting steadily toward commodity status (whether
we—developers—like it or not), this kind of study opportunity
might turn fill a very small niche. With the tuition that Richard
Gabriel
suggests ($15,000 - $20,000/semester), I’m afraid I’d have
trouble justifying the expense based on potential ROI.

I guess you have to look at the other arts as an exapmle in this case,
though. People are still paying to go to music school or to learn
painting
or sculpture, even when the chances of making a good living in any of
these
fields are abysmal. So, this might in fact be the right time to
introduce
software as an art form into academia. You can’t really count on
making much money on it, but you can definitely practice it and be
expressive with it.

All this having been said, if there were an opportunity to participate
in
this program and I had the money (or—better—a scholarship) I
would jump at the chance.